


Language of the Flowers

by Nerdoftheworld



Series: Stucky Shot Party [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Awkward Flirting, Flower Crowns, French Braids, M/M, Oblivious Bucky Barnes, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 08:47:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4094575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdoftheworld/pseuds/Nerdoftheworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every day, like clockwork, Steve walks in with five dollars and buys a single flowers </p>
<p>And gives it to Bucky</p>
            </blockquote>





	Language of the Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I'm sorry that this is late, this is actually day 5 but things came up that I had to attend to so I will try to get day 6 up no promises 
> 
> 2\. I used a website called thelanguageofflowers.come for this just as a heads up in case I get anything wrong (I hope not) 
> 
> Day 5: ‘I work as a florist and every day you walk in, buy one flower and give it to me’ AU 
> 
> Enjoy

The first time it happened, Bucky was sure it was an accident. 

 

It was a normal day at the floral shop, surrounded by fresh smelling flowers that filled the small vases and bins and the hushed yet brutal sound of Natasha in the back of him chopping the stems and thorns off an order of red roses. The shop is never truly busy unless it’s February or Mother’s Day - the only times that Bucky can actually feel overwhelmed taking orders while someone else talks to him at the same time. Other than that, the only customers they get walking through the door with a chime is Mr. Lee coming in with a sweet smile on his old face as he buys his wife a bouquet of forget-me-nots and roses every Wednesday, and a young woman named Wanda who wears all black and buys a dozen bright marigolds almost every day for the past year. Once in a while a nervous businessman would buy a very large set of flowers and snap at anyone who dares ask who they are for or a mother would walk in to see about what kind of flowers they had to liven up a room. 

 

Most days Bucky and Natasha just lay around the shop, sweeping the floors of fallen leaves and tending to unfortunate flowers that either don’t get enough sun or water. Natasha would sometimes sit Bucky down in front of her and style his hair out of boredom, like that day. 

 

He’s sitting there for a good half hour, wincing every time she pulls too harshly to make whatever she was doing tighter. She has a bowl of small flowers that fell off some of the flowers in stock and collected them just so she can put them in his hair while she tugs and almost pulls Bucky’s entire body backwards. “Hey!” he cries out more in shock than anything but she just rolls her eyes. 

 

“Beauty takes pain,” she quips before pulling again. “God, James, what’s up with all these knots?” her nails scratch the side of his skull hard enough to make him wince again. “If you’d brush your hair once in a while like a normal person maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much,” 

 

“Liar,” he winces again, god, what is she even doing back there? “You’re the one that’s making me grow it out!” 

 

Natasha snorts. “I’m constantly surrounded by you men everyday, okay, excuse me for wanting a feminine experience once and a while,” the sound of something elastic can be heard near his ear while she bunches the tips of his hair into a fist. “Alright … almost done,” the next he feels is of her hands in his hair is when she’s slipping what he can assume is the flowers she found on the floor. Some part of him cringes at the thought of it being in his hair, chewing on his bottom lip. The short stems sliding into his strands of hair feel kind of good, actually, and he hums something out like a moan. “Okay, done, hold still while I take a picture,” 

 

The bell over the door tinged as it was pushed open, a tall blonde man standing at the entrance with his hands in his pockets and glancing at the batch of iris’ in a glass vase. He’s blonde with the most modest of appearances that Bucky have ever seen on a man in the middle of New York - clean shaven with a nice button down that revealed the dip of his chest along with dog tags dangling from his neck and blue jeans that hug his figure quite nicely. He rolls up his sleeves of his almost translucent shirt up to his elbows to reveal tattoos all along from the wrist and upward. The sleeve of ink is hard to pick apart to look at the individual ones but from what Bucky can tell is that there is a few white stars, a skyline of buildings, an American flag near the elbow, an Irish flag on his wrist, and what appears to be a wing of some sort. It looks cool, cooler than the ones Bucky has hidden near his hipbone that no one will ever see thank you very much. 

 

Bucky stands up, smiling at the man before clearing his throat. “Hi, welcome to Hydrangea’s Floral Shop. I’m James, is there anything I can help you with?” he asks, tapping his finger lightly on the countertop while the man swings around to look at him with an eyebrow raised. They stand in silence for a little bit, Bucky still sporting a goofy smile and the man looking at him as if expecting something to happen. “Um … Sir?” 

 

The man reaches a hand up and taps at his ear, turning it so that Bucky can see the hearing aid in his ear while the man turns it on. “I’m sorry about that, I was outside and I just really hate all the noise. I guess I forgot to turn it back on,” the man smiles shyly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking around the shop at all the flowers they had. 

 

Bucky waves his hand. “No need to apologize, Sir. Is there anything you’re looking for in particular?” 

 

The customer taps against his chin, looking back at the display of brightly colored fuchsia roses and hydrangeas in a white basket and the wicker tied with a white polka dotted light pink ribbon. He looks like at Bucky with a beaming smile. “Uh … yes. My friend gave birth to a little girl yesterday and I want to give her some flowers, ya know? I like the display, is there anyway you can make me the same?” he asks, leaning against the counter with both hands. 

 

“I’m sure we can replicate it, though it might take a few moments. We here at Hydrangea’s try to make our arrangements fresh from the fridge,” Bucky calls back, walking away from the cash register and towards the dark and light pink roses behind the customer. He grabs two dozen of the roses, six stems of hydrangeas and a handful of Queen Anne’s lace, returning back behind the counter. Natasha reappears from the back with the basket, setting to work at the station behind him. He steals the second pair of scissors from her and starts to cut the flowers accordingly. “So, how long have you known this friend of yours?” 

 

The blonde shrugs, leaning back to watch the two work. “Oh, I don’t know, more than ten years I suppose. She use to kick my ass as a kid and I’d thank her after,” 

 

Bucky lets out an unattractive snort, sounding like a pig calling out for attention. He slaps his hand over his mouth as he hears Natasha sigh behind him in defeat. “I am so sorry, I don’t know where that came from, wow,” Bucky blushes, his face heating up hot enough to melt butter. He clears his throat and straightens his apron, cutting the hydrangeas’ stems. “Er, sorry. Please go on,” 

 

“Well, she and my friend got together a few years ago, got married and now they have a little baby girl of whom I’m the godfather of,” 

 

“That’s amazing! Congratulations,” Bucky smiles, picking up the flowers as gently as possible when Natasha hands him the finished basket. He puts them at random, quickly filling up the small basket. 

 

“Yeah, I hope she likes it. I just got off my graveyard shift and I didn’t have time to go get the kid a pony yet,” the man sighs, running a hand through his honey strands. “So I guess it’s an arrangement, a card and …” he reaches over to the larger wicker basket full of stuffed animals and picks up a brown teddy bear with a pink sweater. “A little pal,” 

 

Bucky chuckles, tapping the stuffed toy’s nose. “I’m sure it’ll be perfect,” he grabs the water spray from under the counter, spraying the flowers to keep them cool in the weather outside. “Alright, you’re all done! Here’s your card and would you like to donate a few cents extra to our troops?” 

 

The customer nodded, waving his hand. “Why not? And what’s your name again?” 

 

“James,” Bucky types into the register, using the paper in front of him to add up the order as the man sets his credit card on the counter. “That’s fifteen dollars for the arrangement, plus the fifty cents for the card and five dollars for the stuffed animal sooo that’ll be twenty dollars and fifty cents,” he picks up the card and slides it, smiling when he gives it back. “Thank you, Steve, and congratulations again,” 

 

The male - Steve - takes it with nimble fingers and picks up one of the business cards from against the cash register. He grabs the credit card in his other hand and pockets both, taking the receipt with him as he picks up the bouquet. “Thanks and by the way,” Steve smiles, “I love your hair … like a lot. Bye James,” and he’s gone. 

 

Bucky watches him leave and starts cleaning up the counter of the leaves and stems, cupping his hand to catch them as they fell over the edge then into his other hand. Natasha watches him smugly, arms crossed and raising her eyebrows as her way of saying “I told you I did a good job” but Bucky doesn’t really care because on the counter is a white camellia that was definitely not there before. “Hey Nat, where did this come from?” 

 

“Maybe you accidently picked it up when you got the flowers,” 

 

“Maybe,” except the white camellias are nowhere near the roses, hydrangeas and Queen Annes. 

 

* * *

 

 

The seconds time it happened was the next day. 

 

Steve walks in while Bucky and Natasha are stepping up the shop, listening to the record player play from the corner of the store while Billie Holiday’s voice fills the air just as they tried to prepare for Easter. Business is usually booming this time of year what with the sudden love of flowers so bright they reflect the sun. He swaggers in with his hands holding a few dollars, thumb rubbing against the corners to make it look more crisp. 

 

“Welcome back!” Bucky chimes, picking up the dustpan from the floor and walking over to the trashcan with his eyes plastered on Steve. “Did your friend like the flowers?” 

 

Steve laughs, looking down at his money bashfully with a small smile before looking up at him with a tilted chin. “Yeah, she loved them. I actually got to hold the baby, wanna see?” he says, pulling out his phone from his back pocket and showing Bucky the screensaver of him holding a small child in his arms, cradling the small body against his chest. “Her name is Sharon, isn’t she beautiful?” 

 

“Absolutely! Wow, I love her skin,” he hums, handing the phone back to Steve with a smile. “So, did another friend have a baby or …?” 

 

“Oh!” Steve walks over to the gardenias, picking one up as gentle as possible to not ruin the pedals of the other flowers. He takes a quick whiff and walks over to Bucky while twirling the stem between two fingers. “Just this for today, please,” 

 

Bucky nods and types in the transaction, running a hand through his chestnut hair. “That’ll be five dollars,” he smiles. Steve hands him the money, though Bucky pretends not to notice his hands shaking as he takes the bills. “Thank you, and here’s your receipt,” 

 

“What happened to your hair?” Steve asks, pointing towards the small messy ponytail at the center of his head. He subconsciously pets at it, pushing the strands that escaped from the hairdo behind his ear. “Not that there’s anything bad about it, it’s just .. uh … the flowers looked great,” 

 

“Don’t worry about it. My friend, Nat-” he points at the redhead lounging on a fold up chair with her boots on the workspace and her phone on her lap, “-got bored and started doing my hair,” 

 

“Well she’s very talented,” Steve chuckles to himself, still holding the flower in his fingers. “So, yeah, this is .. for you,” he hands the flower to Bucky, “and I’ll see you soon, bye,” 

 

The blonde almost trips on his way out, blushing so hard that Bucky can see it from the counter halfway across the store and watches as the Adonis squeezes his eyes and shakes his head once he’s in the safety of the outdoors. 

 

“He’s weird,” Natasha declares, chewing on a cracker while taking an earbud out. “And I think he likes you,”

 

“Sure,” 

 

 

* * *

 

The next day was already looking brighter and even though it down poured all that morning, Bucky couldn’t stop the smile on his face as he smooths down the short hairs on the back of his neck. He finally got it cut after his shift last night, reverting back to the style he sported when he was in high school and he couldn’t be happier. Because while he knows that Natasha is pissed at him for the decision, it made him actually like looking at the mirror and not seeing the man who walked out of a torture camp but instead the man he was before he even wrote his name on the enlistment form. He felt lighter. 

 

Though Natasha wasn’t the only one who disagreed with the change because when Steve walked in yet again, holding the bills in one hand while smiling down at Lincoln, he stops in his tracks with wide eyes staring straight at Bucky. 

 

“Hey,” Bucky says, setting the carton of orange chicken onto the workspace. He bites his lips. “What can I get you today, Steve?” 

 

“Uh,” Steve huffs out a laugh, trying to stop a smile forming on his lips. “Just a, um, yellow tulip please,” he points towards the ones in a pot that Natasha is holding as she waters the them gently. She looks at both of them, shrugging as she sets them down. 

 

“How many?” she asks, one hand on her hip as she looks him up and down. 

 

“One,” 

 

“Hm, okay, well Bucky will get you what you need because I,” Natasha pulls the apron over her curls and adjusts them as she folds her uniform neatly and setting it on her chair. “will be at Clint’s getting some coffee so don’t wait up,” then out the back door she goes without even another word to Bucky. 

 

“Bucky?” Steve’s eyebrow arches, slow smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “I thought your name is James?” 

 

Bucky shrugs, abandoning the counter with his eyes glued on Steve while he picks the single yellow tulip that Steve wants. “Nickname. My sister was in love with my middle name when she was a baby but could only manage to say ‘Bucky’. Ever since my mom gets a kick out of calling us Becky and Bucky,” he laughs, making a mental note to call his mother and Rebecca when he gets home. 

 

“What’s your middle name?” Steve asks, watching Bucky go from place to place to get the flower ready. Bucky scrunches up his face. 

 

“Getting kinda creepy there, Steve, you sure you aren’t trying to stalk me?” he meant it as a joke, but the moment he says it Steve goes ramrod straight and inhales sharply while licking his lips nervously. He stares off at the work space behind him for a few seconds before back at Bucky. 

 

“Oh my god,” he starts, eyes wide, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think I was stalking you. Fuck, my friends were right,” 

 

Bucky sets the tulip down gently, extending his hand towards the blonde man to get his attention. “Hey, calm down, it’s okay. I was just joking, that’s all. My middle name's Buchanan. See? No harm done,” Bucky tries to keep his voice light, at least a little comforting. “Here, that’ll be five dollars, please,” 

 

Steve nods, handing the bill to Bucky to complete the transaction. Then receipt and smile. “All done,” 

 

“I’ve been meaning to ask …” Steve swallows subconsciously. “You cut your hair,” 

 

“Did so last night,” 

 

“Yeah … I like it … it really helps, uh, bring out your eyes,” he licks his lips again, looking down at his feet. “You just look really nice,” 

 

“Thank you,” 

 

“Uh, here, you hold onto this,” Steve says quickly, handing the tulip to Bucky with a beat red face. “I need to get to work so … bye,” 

 

“Bye,” 

 

 

* * *

Over the course of the next month, every day at noon, Steve would walk in with five dollars in his hand, buy a single flower and then give it to Bucky. He’s gotten a pink camellia, a chrysanthemum, a yellow rose, a variegated tulip, a yellow zinnia and much more flowers than Bucky knew what to do with. His bedroom looks like something out of a fairytale with flowers in vases all throughout his apartment and at some point, empty Pringle cans when he ran out of vases to stuff them in. Natasha has even made a point of calling him a modern day Persephone from all the flowers he’s collected, even though she started to steal the older ones and made them into flower crowns for both of them. 

 

Which he’s gladly wearing right now. 

 

It’s an array of bright and simple flowers, something that really anyone could make with the right flowers yet Bucky can’t help but take pictures of himself with the flowers on his head along with Natasha and sending them to his parents. His mom texts back instantly with a smiley face and a compliment, sometimes sending a picture of her and his father wrapping gifts for Rebecca and her kids; Scott and Kimberly. 

 

They’ve got a whole bunch of customers too. A teacher actually walks up to Bucky and starts smiling when she sees the crown, taking the different roses with her in one hand while whispering, “You’re a very lucky man,” before walking away to her parked car in front of the store. He doesn’t understand what she means, though the moment she leaves a teenage boy is next in line with a bouquet of daisies and a shy smile when he pulls out his wallet, saying, “It’s her birthday and she’s allergic to roses, but she loves daisies,” 

 

And in the midst of helping a sweet old lady try to find the perfect flowers to put in her empty home, Steve walks in for his daily flower gifts though this time it’s different. He’s wearing a tucked in dark blue button down, neatly pressed and buttoned all the way to his neck with the exception of the top button and his black pants being held up by a belt that hug his waist snugly. Instead of going straight to the line, though, he makes a straight line towards the full bloom red roses over behind Natasha. Bucky shrugs when she looks back at him, grabbing the lilies for the older woman as she talks about how she’s excited for her son to visit her with his family for Easter. He gets back to the counter and wraps up the flowers, smiling to Steve as he does so. 

 

“Here there, Captain,” he muses, tapping the wrapping to itself tightly. Steve rolls his eyes with a chuckle, smelling the rose. “Got a date?” 

 

“... Do you know anything about the flower language?” 

 

“Other than they are insanely rude to Alice when she arrived to Wonderland?” 

 

Steve laughs, looking up at him with that adorable head tilt. “No, no, I mean the meaning of each flower,” he sighs, gently stroking the soft pedal of the rose. “Like, how a yellow tulip means ‘There’s sunshine in your smile’ or a white camellia means ‘you’re adorable’?” 

 

Bucky’s smile falters a little, typing into the cash register while the lady smells the flowers with a sweet smile. “Can’t say that I do, no,” Bucky replies, handing her her change and receipt. The next person in line lays down a bouquet of tulips and daffodils with decorative egg sticks inside the arrangement and Bucky adds up the price. “Why do you ask?” 

 

Steve breathes in deeply, holding the breath and then letting it out. “Oh god … w-well, this might sound weird but, um,” he starts, “After I met you … I went home and did some research on the flower language so I could flirt with you using the flowers but … I didn’t realize that maybe you didn’t know it … but I’ll be happy to teach … you,” 

 

“Okay,” 

 

“Like, a single full bloom rose means … I like you a lot and I really … want to take you out … sometime,” 

 

Bucky completely forgets about the person in line tapping their foot, waiting for Bucky to give him his change so he can leave. Here is this perfect blonde guy with ridiculously tight shirts holding a rose out in front of him to ask him out on a date and Bucky is wearing a flower crown and a horribly cheesy bunny on his shirt under his apron. This amazing guy who bought him flowers everyday and actually wanted to listen to Bucky’s rambling. The person scoffs and leaves, telling him to keep the change as he storms out. 

 

“James!” calls someone from the back of the line, stepping into his view. Oh no, Mr. Lee. “You aren’t getting younger and neither am I! Just say yes!” 

 

“So?” 

 

“Yeah,” Bucky smiles, blushing as he takes the flower from Steve along with the five dollar bill. “I’ll go out with you,”

  
And if anyone asks him why at their wedding three years later he chose to have an assortment of yellow tulips and white camellias, Bucky will shrug and say it’s a reminder of one of the most romantic gestures anyone has ever done. 


End file.
